Metallurg’s season on the line in crucial home clash with Ak Bars
Ak Bars heads back to Magnitogorsk holding a commanding 3-1 lead in the series and sitting just one victory away from a return to the Gagarin Cup Final, while Metallurg faces a must-win situation on home ice after back-to-back losses in Kazan put the regular-season champion on the brink of elimination.
14:00: Metallurg (1st E) vs Ak Bars (3rd E)
Series stand
1-3 (2:5, 4:2, 1:4, 1:4).
About the game
Ak Bars made back-to-back 4:1 home victories over Metallurg to open a 3-1 lead in the Gagarin Cup semi-final series. Two goals in 66 seconds late in the second period opened a decisive lead for Anvar Gatiyatulin’s men, who are now just one win away from a return to the Gagarin Cup finals after losing 3-4 to CSKA back in 2022-2023. Grigory Denisenko was the hero of the night, scoring the game-winning goal in the second period with a fantastic top-shelf shot that left Ilya Nabokov with no chance. Alexander Barabanov, Dmitrij Jaskin, and Nathan Todd also scored for Ak Bars. Yegor Korobkin netted his first postseason goal for Metallurg in the current season, but that proved not enough for Magnitka, who is now in a do-or-die situation, but fortunately for Andrei Razin’s men – on home ice.
Ak Bars’ forward Kirill Semyonov is on a seven-game scoring streak, with 11 (2+9) points over that stretch.
Injury list
Metallurg: Dmitry Silantyev.
Milestone alert
Ak Bars plays its 1,300th KHL game.
Ak Bars’ goalie Timur Bilyalov may record his 40th career shutout.
